Handheld vacuum cleaners are well known and have been manufactured and sold by various manufacturers for several years. Typically, a handheld vacuum cleaner comprises a casing which houses a motor and fan unit for drawing air into the cleaner via an inlet, and a separation device such as a filter or bag for separating dirt and dust from the incoming airflow. An example of such a vacuum cleaner is shown in GB 1207278.
Handheld vacuum cleaners have more recently been developed to incorporate cyclonic separation systems which are capable of removing larger items of debris from the airflow before removing finer particles using a filter or other barrier means. An example of such a device is sold by Black & Decker under the trade name DUSTBUSTER®. A further example of a handheld vacuum cleaner incorporating a cyclonic separator is shown in GB2035787A.
A disadvantage of known handheld vacuum cleaners which utilise cyclonic separators is that, when only a single cyclone is used followed by a filter or bag, the filter will require maintenance, either by washing or by replacement. Failure to maintain the filter will result in a decrease in performance. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a handheld cleaning appliance which is capable of sustaining high performance for longer than known handheld vacuum cleaners. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a handheld cleaning appliance which requires less maintenance than existing appliances. A further object of the present invention is to provide a handheld vacuum cleaner which is capable of developing and sustaining higher suction power than is possible with current designs of handheld vacuum cleaner.